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Sigilus
Landscape: Full Ecology (Plains, Rainforest, Hills). Sigilus is a small state in southern Westerly, which has largely been reworked in order to suit the needs of the inhabitants. What started out as a large clearing near the coast of Westerly on the Ilean Penninsula, developed into large, cleared flatlands. The plains that were revealed from the cleared forest proved to be largely arable, much to the benefit of the Sigilians. A good portion of the territory is coastal or covered in cityscape, while the rest has developed into farmland on their rolling plains. Their border is pushing frequently against Westerly, into the jungles and rainforest, which makes for a bit of cover. The many hills near some of the coastal cliffs have been engineered downwards, into mines and quarries. Because of the area, much of the wildlife is herbivorous, with few predators of which to speak. The climate is incredibly mild. Winters rarely dip below freezing, and summers have difficulty breaking 38 Celsius in the hottest months. The city itself is a dual walled city. Each wall towers a good 25 feet in height. And at all four cardinal directions on the outer walls is a large gun turret covering an equally large gate. Past the outside gates is a large expanse of farmland rolling over the cleared flatland. The majority grow the hardier vegetables. What area isn't laid out in farmland is set aside for quarry, mining out masses of stone. Within the reaches of Sigilus's official political borders is a small expanse of jungle from which they harvest lumber. Inside of the first set of walls is a small amount of farmland. While not nearly enough to sustain the whole state, it is enough to keep the city going for a few days of siege. Inside the primary city is a massive cityscape, rising several stories. It is organized into several districts. Housing, education, commercial, and industrial, all organized in a wheel-and-spoke pattern around a massive marble spire that serves as the seat of their government. Major Settlements: Sigilus The Folk: 70% Nu Mou, 15% Human, 15% Other; Population: BEING ESTIMATED. Primary Exports: Stone, wheat, assorted vegetables, pharmaceuticals, lumber (primarily soft woods), intermediate goods. Coinage: Sigilian Credits (1 Credit = ~3 GP.) Characters: Cid Padesh, Tina Scalnistro The Law: Sigilus, though officially a state of Westerly, is left politically and economically independent to the point of qualifying as its own entity. Their government was briefly clan based democracy, but for centuries it has served as a parliamentary democracy. Sigilus's parliament consists of three houses: The House of Commons, the House of Royals, and the House of Magistrates. Popularity goes by the wayside, in favor of merit. The top house ultimately has the final say in terms of Sigilus's happenings, and consists of five individuals. The five Magistrates are: Education, handling the education of the state as well as any claims to intellectual property; Public Health, which oversees those responsible for creating drugs and monitoring polution levels in the city and in the local viscinity; Transit, which handles any inbound and outbound traffic, the public transportation system, and the majority of logistical work; Security, which deals in the defense of the state, both from enemies within and without; and Finance/Agriculture, which in addition to balancing the books and monitoring trade, engineers the soil based on what crops were planted where and when. Each one has a say in the local politics, and initiate any laws and social change. These policies must pass through the other two houses as well. Edicts can be declared without acceptance in the event of an emergency, but only by the magistrate. This house rotates every 12 years. Sigilian law tends to be remarkably strict. Many things are illegal that would be legal in other countries. Gun control is incredibly strict, limited exclusively to the police force. A curfew is in effect from midnight to 6 AM local time. Prostitution and drug sales are regulated to almost ruthless degrees. By and large, though, the populace accepts these. History: The region of Westerly now known as Sigilus used to be almost entirely jungle. However, there were two different tribes of Nu Mou that had cleared out several parcels of land to build for themselves. These small areas of land housed subtribes. There were two separate tribes, the east and west Nu Mou. There was constant fighting over land and rights to land, not to mention the simple egotistical ideas of racial superiority. After centuries of fighting, standoffs, and deterrance, the east Nu Mou realized nothing was coming of this and offered a truce, to which those of the west finally agreed. The leaders of all the tribes gathered on the Ilean Penninsula to sign the truce into action. Finally, they could get along again and began to trade with each other. From the east came the stones from several of the quarries that laid waiting on the penninsula, and from the west, glass and lumber were offered. This trade lasted several years peacefully. Sigilus was finally on the way to being built. Now that the two tribes had made peace and begun to trade, they could start to explore. They were met mostly with jungle and a rare human tribe in its own formative process. They were amazed to find more sentient beings out here, though they lacked a shared language and communication proved difficult. This information brought amazement, hope, and fear to the Nu Mou all at the same time. They were impressed to learn of other sentient beings that had formed their own society, and it gave them hope that they might finally start trading a bit more in peace. However, that hope constantly had the shadow of fear along with it. What if the humans they met were unfriendly? What if they attacked now that they were aware of each other? The Nu Mou tribes first decided there was power in numbers. Slowly, more and more of them migrated and intertwined into a large settlement, a sort of collaboration of the villages. Eventually, the villages were emptied and destroyed and a new, supervillage was built. The new town began to develop, but now they had a new issue. Who would have control? Would it be the old leaders who had experience? If so, which one would reign supreme, if any? If not, who would take the reigns of this new town and guide it? For several years it was less a town and merely a group of people at a constant standoff. But eventually, it was the scholars who convinced people to follow. Eventually they had the wisest and the easiest led under their control, enough so to sieze control, former members of both tribes. They began to work on documents that would be feasible for all to follow. It started out as the standard ethical guidance: no murder, robbery, and so on. And, for a while, peace was restored. It would be another hundred years before tension built again. At this time, the former leaders of the tribe became worried that they were about to lose all forms of control. They started to gain followers and start whisper ideas of war once again. The only problem was that now, it was a generation later, and it became difficult to choose sides for the new generations, and for the older generation, it meant conflict with their friends and, in some cases, their family. This all worried the scholars, who knew this could well end badly. Realizing the issue after meeting with the former leaders, they realized that they just wanted control. At the time, it seemed a fine idea to give them control to prevent another civil war between the two groups. Sigilus finally had all it needed to develop as a society. There was an established heirarchy of power, there was written language and law, and there was an economy. But the human threat was still there. So, with the stone available, Sigilus built its first wall. It started as just a bit of lumber to keep out unwanted visitors from the jungle, sentient or not. There was left some room for expansion, though not much. A second wall began immediately afterwards, both to be more sturdy and to give more space. This wall was to be made of stone. Inside the wall, however, it was not dormant. The old buildings were little huts for living and nothing more. With the forming of society and, soon after, money-based economy, they needed more. Much more. They needed smithies, and markets, and banks, and libraries. Sigilus, over a short period of time would grow from a small supervillage to a true town, and would be one of the first, if not the first, to do so. Construction of the wall, though started first, ended up being one of the last parts of the city to be finished. By the time it was done, the city had expanded further, torn down the lumber wall, and developed itself. They'd begun to learn more and more about everything: About their surroundings, about themselves, about the humans, and most importantly, of magic. This would prove to cement them as a physically weak race, but a brilliant one. They began to use magic for more and more. Magic to heat the home, magic to transport water, magic to build. Magic became a huge part of everyday life. It got to the point where they even named their city after magically charged signs they used: sigils. And thus the city was founded as Sigilus. Skipping ahead another century or so, Sigilus has grown still. The original wall has been torn down, replaced, and then replaced again, along with starting the two-walled system. Sigilus has expanded its population immensely, especially now that the quality of life has improved individuals' lifespans. With the developing Westerlians, Sigilus has finally started to trade a bit more, and has met up with the tribes in Augustgrad. Though Augustgrad does not loan itself to the Nu Mou build, trade continues with difficulty. Humans from Westerly and beastmen from Augustgrad are welcomed into the city and watched carefully. Some even become assimilated into Sigilian society. Parliament, the first schools, the grand library, and the first few parts of the marketplace are constructed as well. Another hundred years or two later, Sigilus's economy, through trade, boomed for centuries. And it had really started to expand medically, to the point where it was using slightly more advanced medicines than its immediate neighbors. Trade routes have extended throughout Westerly and most of Augustgrad. Sailing routes have added Falkovnia and what is today Raxis. Sigilus proves itself time and again in the fields of science, chemistry, mathematics, magic, and stonemasonry. However, in the arms race, Sigilus and its peacekeeping ways have left it several ages in the past. While warring states have been forced to develop better metals, better mails, and new weapons, Sigilus never had a need, as it always focused on avoiding warfare, thanks to its past. As firearms reach development and production in other nations, Sigilus realizes just how poorly off it is. Its pikes and smallswords would fare poorly compared to the muskets and rifles being developed. Their magics could only do so much, and eventually magic-resistant armor would have to come up elsewhere, especially if Sigilus is not the sole bearer of magic. Sigilus, in an attempt to catch up, begins trading for armaments to study and improve. And, unfortunately, they are left with a realization: Lacking of heavy metals and saltpeter, catching up to the other civilizations may be difficult. So, instead, they work on their magics, improving them as best they can. But even this is not enough. As such, they begin hunting for allies with the resources they need in order to trade for them as well. Finally development of firearms can begin. But development proves slow and trying for the Nu Mou and assimilated humans and beastmen. By the time a basic firearm can come out of Sigilus, others have had the chance to develop bigger and better firearms. The Sigilians decide to stop following and become revolutionary, starting to research, design, and test their own firearms. It is difficult, and rarely is it even more powerful than the Sigilian musket, let alone any other weaponry, and often times scholars drop out in order to persue magic creation instead. Finally, through both magic and design, a worthy Sigilian firearm hits production after several decades of R&D. Things start to stabilize on Fontraile. Sigilus remains safe and peaceful with all of its allies and sets sail to explore once again. The expeditions are all over the world, in an attempt to find new cultures and establish trade. The walls of Sigilus have been pushed out considerably, logistics anticipating until around current era. Now Sigilus has plenty of room to expand itself within its newly enlarged territory. It begins farming well within its borders, moving the farms as needed to accomodate new structures. Imperialism, in effect or not, has certainly crossed the minds of the Sigilian parliament. However, this may well lead into a war that is unwanted and unnecessary. And, for Sigilus, at least, the only land that they would want to occupy lies in Westerly anyway. So for now, at least, the government of Sigilus opts instead to continue to trade and deal its way to the top. However, fearing being taken by someone in an act of imperialism, Sigilus works to bolster its defenses by building gun turrets on their walls. Trading meets mixed results. Some groups meet the trading vessels with open arms, other shut their doors and force them out. Ages pass and things change. The invention of the automobile makes trade much, much easier. The helicopter and airplane even moreso. The motor makes sea travel much more reasonable. Things in the world change, naturally. Politics generally stay favorable towards Sigilus, though, allowing their continued economic development. There are, however, a few changes in politics that prove troublesome for Sigilus. The Renalian government and Sigilus have never been on the closest terms, but eventually the latter was forced to cut ties due to politics. Miranda was lost to several razing attempts which harmed trade with them, and harmed relations with their attackers: Paramis. And Falkovia eventually became home to the anti-non-human faction belonging to Regina. Eventually the Ekris War comes to an end, and Sigilus continues its trade, though less so to Paramis. Supplies are sent to help repair the razed Miranda and heal the wounded soldiers. The trades, though disjointed by the war, keeps everyone sustained and the economies more stable than they would be without. Another several years pass without incident and Sigilus begins to foster better relationships with the new Miranda, the recently established Raxis, and Hevaraz, being already close with Westerly and Augustgrad. And the recent Paramis war finally breaks out again. At first, Sigilus merely raises its tarrifs to huge amounts against Paramis to support the CFA. But this proves not enough and, on supply ships being sunk by Paramis subs, Sigilus actively joins the war, taking from its police force and streaming development from other industries on firearms and war vehicles. Military: Militarily, Sigilus has very little to speak of. Traditionally, Nu Mou are short of stature and not well-suited to military roles, due to their small stature and rather sluggish movement speed, as well as a naturally peaceful nature. This is not to say, however, that the Sigilians lack a military. The whole of Sigilus has a relatively small defense force comprising volunteers and drafted citizens, mostly intended for defensive operations. A standard drafted citizen will last in the PDF for about 5 years with an additional three as a standing reserve. Nu Mou military training puts a great emphasis on choosing good position and focusing on marksmanship; Nu Mou soldiers excel at ranged combat and magic use, since, as a whole, they are not very skilled in close-combat. In times of war or when needed to support Nu Mou interests, Sigilus' military is gradually drawn away from the capital garrison as needs must. As far as tactics go, the PDF prefers to wage war through attrition. An Augustgrad saying goes that "if you see a Sigilian flee, you had best follow suit." As exemplified by the city's structure as a whole, the Sigilian line is incredibly difficult to break. They have a near constant flow of supplies to the front line. The Paramisian war had another tool of theirs developed and show a great amount of use: the development of the "Walking Wall," in which temporary, inexpensive prefabricated bases were built and torn down in order to follow the front line. It took a good bit of manpower and a few miniature cranes, but having relative comfort and safety in every front meant for improved morale and supply chains. Sigilus' vehicle support primarily is manufactured by friendly foreign interests. Its primary tank, for example, is a relatively lightweight vehicle that was developed specifically for Sigilus by a Westerlian manufacturer, and is designed to handle well in the swampy terrain around the Sigilian homeland. Construction is modular, and Sigilian military gear often doubles for civilian duty in peacetime - a well-known use for the primary Sigilian tank is as a field plow and construction vehicle, and Sigilian APCs and AA vehicles often also see use as medical transports or field scouting vehicles.